Le Cotage Conversion- Sackcrete and Other Such Things

One of the most important parts of a home, for me, is the kitchen, which was one of the time investments we were making prior to our dead-line. (And also one of the things I absolutely stomped my feet about having before we lived there.) The children also helped a lot with this, mostly with sanding. I would work at the cottage during the day and then a couple of hours in the evening at the wood-shop. I learned to put together face-frames and run things through the 4-foot wide drum sander. Jake told me I could put the hinges on the doors. I asked if it was hard to do. He said, "Well, your daughters do it." Ha haaaa...

Thanks to funding from extended family we were able to order our counter-top material! ***Wahoo*** This is called solid-surface which is the same material as Corian. Jake is the only certified solid-surface fabricator in the valley. I had to pick these from  >tiny<  sample pictures on the computer, but they turned out to be perfect. For the kitchen, I wanted something as close to concrete as possible. Bingo! For the hoosier, I wanted something like granite. This is probably as close as you could get in this material. The best thing? These turned out to be on sale and saved us quite a bit. THAT NEVER HAPPENS when I pick stuff for a house!

Here is a close look at the doors that Jake designed for the cabinets. I have always loved Craftsman style homes and this was actually one thing we both agreed on. THAT HARDLY EVER HAPPENS.

Ha.

Here, the cabinets are waiting in the show-room for their transfer to their new home.  (Actually, I guess they were waiting for Jake's brother to be available to help heft them over.) Thanks, Daniel!

Porter drew straws and won. 

Yep. He's busy helping with the install.

Another shocking occurance: the stainless steel sink was cheaper than the one that joins seamlessly with the solid-surface counters. It was actually way cheaper than either of us expected.

Jake's dad was absolutely floored that I would pick stainless over seamless but I have always loved stainless and I know how HARD my family is on sinks!

When Jake said to keep the cost of the faucet under $200, I was so afraid I'd have to get something I hated, but this one was on sale at a home-everything-store. Happy day! The removable spout is magnetized. It does shower or stream.

I LOVE IT.

You would never regret having a faucet like this.

Bringing in the new fridge!

Rylee is holding the handles. Did you know they just snap off? Uncle Dan did, thankfully. I dread to think the ideas they'd have come up with to get that thing to fit through the door. Whew.

Coley was the first to cook in the new kitchen. Gas stove!!! It's been YEARS. Oh how I've missed you!

The moving in begins bit by bit.

This is the front entry-way. It was added to the house later and for some reason, slanted steeply away from the house. Jake started to fill it in to make it level and get it ready for tile. Then, he ran out of...   um... what's it called, again? Uh...